Charla Nash's family 'hopeful' because of new face

Updated 9:56 pm, Thursday, August 11, 2011

Charla Nash with her daughter Briana Nash in a rehabilitation center near Boston. Charla Nash lost her eyes, hands and much of her face on February 16, 2009 when attacked by a 200 pound chimpanzee at a friend's house in Stamford, Conn. In June 2011, at Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Plastic Surgery's Charla underwent the groundbreaking fourth face transplant.

Charla Nash with her daughter Briana Nash in a rehabilitation center near Boston. Charla Nash lost her eyes, hands and much of her face on February 16, 2009 when attacked by a 200 pound chimpanzee at a friend's house in Stamford, Conn. In June 2011, at Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Plastic Surgery's Charla underwent the groundbreaking fourth face transplant.

Charla Nash does stretching exercises in a rehabilitation center near Boston. Charla Nash lost her eyes, hands and much of her face on February 16, 2009 when attacked by a 200 pound chimpanzee at a friend's house Stamford, Conn. In June 2011, at Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Plastic Surgery's Charla underwent the groundbreaking fourth face transplant.

Charla Nash in a 2007 photo next to the cage with the chimpanzee Travis. Travis mauled Nash in February 2009 leaving her without any hands or eyes. Nash had a full face transplant in May at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Undated photos provided Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011 by the Nash family and Brigham and Womenís Hospital show chimpanzee attack victim Charla Nash before she was attacked by a chimpanzee and a recent photo release by the hospital Thursday Aug. 11, 2011 showing Nash after face transplant surgery, right. Nash was mauled by a chimpanzee in 2009 and received the transplant in May 2011 at Brigham and Womenís Hospital in Massachusetts. Nash, 57, said in a statement she's looking forward to doing things she once took for granted, including being able to smell, eat normally, speak clearly and kiss loved ones. (AP Photo/Brigham and Womenís Hospital, Lightchaser Photography)
Photo: AP

Undated photos provided Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011 by the Nash family...

Undated photos provided Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011 by the Nash family and Brigham and Women’s Hospital show chimpanzee attack victim Charla Nash before she was attacked by a chimpanzee and a recent photo release by the hospital Thursday Aug. 11, 2011 showing Nash after face transplant surgery, right. Nash was mauled by a chimpanzee in 2009 and received the transplant in May 2011 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts. Nash, 57, said in a statement she's looking forward to doing things she once took for granted, including being able to smell, eat normally, speak clearly and kiss loved ones. (AP Photo/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Lightchaser Photography)
Photo: Lightchaser Photography, Associated Press

STAMFORD -- Charla Nash's new face, a medical wonder unveiled Thursday morning in the print editions of Hearst Connecticut Newspapers, has brought a new level of hope to her family, her daughter and brother said.

"It's just good to see the rapid progress and a happiness that wasn't there before, and new hope," Briana Nash said on the show. "It's so nice to see her ready to get at it again."

Charla Nash, the victim of a vicious chimp attack in Stamford in 2009, is one of only three people in the United States to have received a full face transplant.

The release of the photos, shown by "Today" along with video of Nash after the surgery, provided an opportunity for Nash's daughter and brother, Steve Nash, to chronicle a process that has been both nerve-racking and encouraging.

Steve Nash said his sister's "optimism is back again."

"We're quite ecstatic," he said.

Though an attempted hand transplant was unsuccessful, he said the family is hopeful that doctors will be able to give her hands at some point.

"We're looking forward to the next attempt at a transplant," he said.

Briana Nash said for the first time since the attack, her mother can express her feelings through body language. Something as simple as a smile, she said, was impossible until the transplant was performed.

She said she'll always be appreciative of the opportunity provided by the donor.

"What they've done for us is just so amazing, and I'm so thankful," she said. "It's really given my mom the hope to move forward and a chance at life again."

Nash, 58, is living in a rehabilitation center near Boston. She lost her eyes, hands and facial features in the attack by the chimpanzee named Travis. The 200-pound animal was shot and killed by police after the attack.

The owner of the chimp, Sandra Herold, died in May 2010. A month later, Nash came to Stamford from Boston to celebrate Briana's graduation from Westhill High School.

In June, doctors said Nash was responding to questions with nods of her head. Her family said she was trying to communicate verbally.

In a family statement read at a news conference in June, Steve Nash, said: "Charla has fought hard, at first for her life, and then to begin to recover both physically and emotionally. Our family is deeply indebted to the many individuals and the three hospitals who have gotten her to this wonderful day."